I encourage those of you that are working on personal documentary project to apply. The guidelines state that in addition to 15-25 images and an “inventory page” with complete caption information, each applicant must submit a “Statement of Purpose that includes a description of your project, your reasons for doing this project, what you hope to accomplish with this project, and the progress of the project.”

Completing the written component of this Award will be a challenge but one that I urge readers to tackle. This, along with the challenge of editing your project images to a group no larger than 25, will provide you with the materials so often needed for grant applications, and make it easier for you to enter other competitions. As my friend Susan kae Grant tells her students “If you don’t apply, you will have a 100% chance that your work won’t be selected.” Start your edit!

The Worldwide Photography Gala Awards ( WPGA) open a Juried competition for students and recent graduates of photography, fine art and design attending institutes, colleges, schools and universities worldwide: The Nadar Award for Students. Students from art-related schools and faculties such as architecture, as well as students from other careers, who are amateur photographers (i.e. members of photographic associations and photo clubs) may also qualify to submit images to The Nadar Award.

The first prize will be the attendance (including round trip from the country and city of residence, lodging, and tuition) to a Workshop organized by Santa Fe Photography Workshops, and will the winner images will be widely promoted internationally. Selected images will be exposed during 2010 in US and Europe. As in other contest organized by WPGA who partner with Save the Children, a portion of its revenue (entry fees and sales of works in exhibitions) will be donated to that humanitarian organization.

WPGA invites all students (and recent graduates) working in all mediums, styles and schools of thought. Traditional, contemporary, avant-garde, creative and experimental works that include old and new processes, mixed techniques, and challenging personal, emotional or political statements are welcome to The Nadar Award.

The competition will open in November 3nd, 2009. There will an Early Bird Deadline with discounted entry fees on December 20th and a Final Deadline on January 17th, 2010. Jurors’ selection will take place during the month of February, and the final announcement will be on March 11th 2010.

As always, applicants should read and understand all guidelines for competitions before entering.

Amanda Maddox – Assistant Curator of Photography and Media Arts at the Corcoran Gallery of Art

Susan Bright – Independent art writer and curator based in NY

This past November I was excited to see the exhibition of the work selected for Flash Forward 2009, one of my favorite of the contemporary offerings at FotoWeek DC. I hope many of my readers had a chance to see it. To view a list of winners, click here. The publication is worth seeing. I encourage readers to enter the 2010 competition.

PLANNING AHEAD:

2010 marks Magenta’s launch of the new bi-annual Flash Forward Festival celebrating”emerging photographers from Canada, United Kingdom and the United States” which will be held in Toronto, Canada October 6-10, 2010. Plan now to attend!

Here is how the Festival was described in the press release:

“Set to take over Toronto’s Liberty Village area, Flash Forward Festival will provide an in-depth experience for emerging photographers with educational and networking opportunities including events with collectors, arts enthusiasts and industry professionals. The festival will include five curated exhibitions (representing Canada, the UK and the US, plus one guest nation), as well as workshops, a lecture series, nightly events, an art fair and a major closing event that will be filmed and transmitted globally.”